Nordmen

The people of Nordmaar have seen more than theirfair share of trials and tribulations. The upheaval of theCataclysm changed their homes, but until the War ofthe Lance, they prospered where many others suffered.However, the War of the Lance was the beginning ofa string of misfortunes. The Dragonarmies occupiedNordmaar’s cities during the war, and the occupying forcesweren’t driven out until some years later. The Knights ofTakhisis conquered Nordmaar just prior to the ChaosWar. That war brought shadow wights down on the landlike a great swarm, erasing whole families from existence.Their losses in the Chaos War caused the Dark Knightsto withdraw from Nordmaar in the early Age of Mortals,leaving the Nordmen to fend for themselves.The outlook of the city dwellers and their nomadiccousins is both similar and vastly different. The Nordmen,as the more civilized people of Nordmaar are generallyknown, have no problems with—and indeed embrace—thetrappings of society that come with living in an urbanenvironment. While still a somewhat suspicious andinsular people, the Nordmen have begun to look outsidetheir city walls and are opening their eyes to the lands ofAnsalon beyond their immediate borders, as indicated bytheir recent acceptance of the Solamnic Knights in mostof their cities and towns. Regardless of how they seem atoutsiders, Nordmen are a fierce, independent lot who feelthey are capable of standing against any threat.While their lives may not be as free and unbridledas their Horselord cousins, the men and women ofNordmaar’s towns and cities still love their freedom. Theydo not shirk their duties and jobs; they are hard workers.However, they feel that only one of their own has theright to lead them. As the Dragonarmies and Knights ofTakhisis found, it takes a powerful army to hold the citiesof Nordmaar. Being subjected to those powerful armies inthe past has led to the Nordmen’s fierce love of freedomtoday. The new king, Nacon II, is a Horselord nomad, buthe is coming to understand and appreciate the lives of thecity dwellers and how to rule them effectively.The Solamnics once described Nordmaar as the laststronghold of good in the north. The Nordmen of thecities and towns are included in that statement. Sincethe Solamnics deal mostly with the Nordmen, not theHorselords, some Nordmen even say it is a statementabout them and not their nomadic cousins. Regardless ofwho is referred to, Nordmen take great pride in the rough,but good, nature that is generally attributed to them. Thisoverall goodness combined with a culture in love withfreedom makes the inhabitants of the cities and towns ofNordmaar a people worthy of the trust andrespect of any ally.Nordmen are of mixed Solamnic and Kalinese ancestry.They are tall and fair-skinned, with hair ranging in colorfrom reddish-brown to pale blond. A number of darkercomplexionedNordmen, whose ancestors were inhabitantsof the island archipelago which rose from the sea afterthe Cataclysm to become modern Nordmaar, populatethe coastal towns of the region. There is no prejudice orthought given to differences in skin tone, complexion, orbackground in Nordmaar, although the life one chooses—city or steppes—says a great deal. King Nacon II is lookedupon by some Horselord nomads and cityfolk alike asbeing an aberration, a nomad who has chosen to live in thebig city.